Garage heater



Aug. 31 1926.

. 1,597,903 0. J. KUENHOLD GARAGE HEATER Filed July 26, 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 31 1926.

o. J. KUENHOLD GARAGE HEATER Filed July 26, 1920 P. Sheets-Shaeiii) OTTOZl'. KUENHOLD, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE SCIENTIFIG HEATERCOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

GARAGE HEATER.

Application filed July 26, 1920. Serial No. 399,022.

This invention relates to heaters in which liquid fuel is used.

The objects of my invention are toprovide a self-contained heater thatis adapted for use in a garage, an office, or elsewhere as maybedesired, and having a high degree of safety and efficiency as well asdurability and convenience in handling and operating. More particularlythe invention has for its object to generally improve and simplify theheater burner and the wick thereof. Other objects of my invention willappear from the following detailed description considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of one embodiment ofthe invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the burner, thecombination and preheating screens being shown in dotted lines forconvenience of illustration; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the burner; Fig. 5 is a detail viewshowing the wick structure; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section through thewick.

In a general way my device comprises a frame work supporting an uprightimperforate drum surrounded by a spaced imperforate casing, with an oilsupply tank attached to the outside of the casing and a burner supportedwithin the lower portion of the drum, an oil strainer being providedbetween the oil supply tank and the burner. The imperforate drum member1, which 'may be of any suit-able shape, is shown in the drawings ashaving a rectangular cross section with its upper and lower ends flangedinwardly, and is supported by the bottom frame 2. The imperforate member3 spaced from and surrounding the drum is also flanged inwardly at itsupper and lower ends and is likewise supported by the bottom frame whichis provided with angles to receive the flanged ends of these twomembers. The bottom frame member is of a web formation between thecasing and the drum walls and is entirely open throughout its centralportion, except for cross arms 4. The upper frame member, which holdsthe upper ends of the drum and casing in proper spaced relation, isformed as a web between the drum and casing and is otherwise open. Tiebolts 5 secure together the upper and lower frame members and also clampin position the upper and lower safety screens 6 and 7, respectively,which have their marginal portions formed as flanges and which areseated in the angles of the frame members, as clearly seen in Fig. 1.Screens 6 and 7 prevent the flame from passing through the ends of theheater. A removable grid 8 is sea-ted in anangle of the upper frame. Thearms 4 are adapted to support the burner, while the upper grid 8 isadapted to support a receptacle for heating liquid or the like.

The tank 14 which contains the liquid fuel, as for instance, kerosene,is'supported in any suitable manner upon the side wall and near theupper end of the casing as by means of brackets 15. This supply tank ismade of small horizontal cross section for the purpose of keeping thecenter of gravity as near as possible to the central axis of the mainbody of the heater. The upper end of this tank is provided with a largefilling opening surrounded by an inwardly extending flange 17 upon whichrests the hinged cover 18. The cover extends fully over the flange 17when in closed position. An air space 19 is provided between the oiltank and the casing so as to prevent heating of the tank. Oil is fedfrom the tank through the feed pipe 20, the lower end of whichcomunicates with the oil strainer.

The oil strainer has a flange 21 detachably secured to a bracket 22 uponthe casing and comprises a cast metal reservoir 23 having a cap and aninlet 24 communicating with the feed pipe 20 and controlled by asuitable needle valve (not shown) and an outlet 39 controlled by a valve40 and from which the liquid drops into a cup 41. The clean oil uponleaving the strainer drips into the drip cup 41 which has communicationthrough pipe 42 with the burner indicated in a general way at 43.

The oil burner rests upon the cross arms 4 at the bottom of the drum.The oil feed pipe 42 communicates with the bottom of the base member 44which is formed as an annular or endless cup or reservoir. A boss 45 isformed on this member to receive the feed pipe, and, as will be seenfrom Figz o2, the boss 45, and the boss 45* formed on the cross arm 4with which the oil pipe has screw threaded enagement, clamp the lowerscreen member with a flame tight oint. The burner member 44 is providedwith cross arms 46 and a central hub 47 formed integral therewith. Thishub 47 rests upon the lower screen member 7 and the cross arms 4 and thelock nuts 48 and 49 clamp the burner member to the cross arms. Closefitting apertures are provided in the cross arms of the bottom frame andalso in the screen 7 at the middle points thereof to accommodate theparts just described. The lower screen member is thus clamped betweenthe hub and the lower lock nut just referred to with a flame tightjoint. A sleeve 5Q snugly fits the aperture in the cross arms 4 andextends through the hub and lock nuts. A lift rod 51 extends throughthis sleeve and is secured at its upper end to the upper frame structureof the burner.

As will beseen from Fig. "2, the upper end of the burner comprises acast frame member 52 provided with an annular opening 53 and a centralhub '54 in which is secured by means of set screw 55 the lift-rod 51.Annular flanges 56 and 57 carry the inner cylindrical combustion screens58 and 59 which are coarsely perforated and also the cylindrical airpre-heating screens 60 and 61 which are provided with fine perforations,approximately 400 per square 7 inch. The screens 58 and 59 form acombustion zone. The pre-heating screens are spaced about one-eighth ofan inch from the inner combustion screens. The lower ends of thecombustion and pre-heati'ng screens are secured together in any suitablemanner and are offset so as to rest upon the burner base member, therebyforming flame tight joints. placed by new ones whenever necessary bysimply removing the lift rod and in this way remove the burner top.Inner and outer guard cylinders 62 and 63 are suspended from downwardlyextended flanges 6e and 65 on the top casting member. These guardcylinders are imperforate and serve to direct the currents of air upthrough the burner as well as to confine the zone of combustion and tohold in the heat. A'flame spreader 66, which consists of a metal plateand which can have any suitable form, rests upon the upper frame memberof the burner by fitting down over the hub portion thereof.

An annular wick 67 comprises two or more layers of woven fibrousmaterial of suitable nature, as for instance, asbestos, secured incontact relation by means of an annular U-shaped wire mesh member 68.The wire mesh is spaced from the lower edge of the asbestos so as toallow free and proper feeding of the oil around the reservoir and upthrough the strands of the wick when in position in the burner basemember. The open mesh permits vaporization of oil at the sides of thewick. The layers of asbestos are so cut that their strands will extendat an angle of substantially 45 degrees to the The screens can be revertical, as in Fig. 5, for the purpose of preventing ravelling of thestrands and also to increase the efficiency of the feeding of the oil upthrough the wick. As is well known the upper portion of a wick becomesclogged with tarry matter after a time,

which hinders the capillary attraction; but

by using a wick of a plurality of layers, the

contacting faces remain free of such .de-

posit. Furthermore, the joint or joints between the layers aid capillaryaction.

Having fully described the details of my invention, a rsum will now begiven of the manner of operation and the particular advantages flowingtherefrom.

By placing the oil tank on the upper part of the casing wall as high aspossible above the oil reservoir in the burner, suflicient and afterhaving set the valve for a certain rate of oil feed can depend uponconstant and uniform feed, since the strainer prevents the clogging ofthe needle drip valve. The oil is also fed to the burner with absolutesafety since a maximum oil level is established in the burner reservoirby the relative arrangement of the drip cup with respect thereto. Thetop of the drip cup is somewhat below the top of the oil reservoir inthe burner, which makes it impossible for oil to overflow in the burner.This arrangement prevents the lower screen member from being clogged 'orof overflowing oil. catching fire and causing objectionable smoke andsoot. Furthermore, with this arrangement I avoid the difiiculty ofstarting the burner incident to an oversupply of oil in the wick; whichcondition is decidedly noticeable in a cold room. By limiting the degreeof saturation of the wick I avoid the undue flaming and smoking ofthe'burner upon starting the same.

By using a wick of woven asbestos fabric cut in the manner abovedescribed, every strand will conduct oil from the bottom of thereservoir in the burner base to the upper portion of the wick; and Ihave furthermore accomplished a more even distribution of the oilthrough the wick, since the oil at any given point at the top thereof isdrawn from widely separated points in the lower portion of the oilreservoir. As will be seen from Fig. 2, the upper end of the wick is approximately on the level with the lowest apertures in the combustionscreens, wh ch arrangement prevents the accumulation of tarry sedimentat the upper ends of the strands of the wick. Upon turing oif the oilthe last fire burns at the top of the wick and any such sediment isentirely consumed ill due to the sufiicient supply of air at the upperportion of the wick.

By using the asbestos wick as here shown I obviate the necessity ofcontinually trimming the same as with ordinary wicks. Instead of raisingand lowering the wick for lighting and extinguishing the burner, as incertain types of heaters, I simply oper ate the needle valve whichcontrols the flow of oil from the strainer through the feed pipe to theburner base. It is to be understood that the wick might be omitted in mydevice in case gasoline or similar oil is used for starting the burner.The wick here disclosed is more in the nature of a vaporizer, as will beunderstood. from the above description.

In order to start the burner the oil at the needle valves is turned on,the lift rod is pushed upwardly, thereby raising the combustion andpre-heating screens, and a lighted match is applied to the upper end ofthe wick. The frame of the burner is then lowered to the position shownin Fig. 2. The oil flows to the upper end of the wick by capillaryattraction, at first burning at the top thereof and the heat developedcauses vaporization of the liquid fuel car ried by the wick. This vaporrises in the space between the combustion screens and is mixed with airpassing inwardly through the pre-heating and combustion screens andburns with a blue flame. At this time the white flame at the edge of thewick discontinues and a blue flame rises higher in the burneraccordingly as more vapor is formed by the further radiation of heatwithin the burner. From experience it has been fotmd that the combustionand pre-heating screens become very highly heated and even red hot attimes and the flame rises out through the upper end of the burner. Theouter guard cylinder, however,'because of its galvanized inner surface,deflects the heat inwardly and upwardly and thus prevents undueradiation of heat outside of the burner. The inner guard cylinder tendsto direct the upward currents of air against the flame spreader so thatthey will impinge and-become mixed with the flame at the top of theburner, which action transfliirms a white tipped and possibly smokyflame into a blue one without smoke.

The pre-heating screens possess several distinct advantages. It is to beunderstood that currents of air pass upwardly through the lower screenof the heater and findtheir way through the pre-heating and combustionscreens. The pre-heating'screens insure the heating of the outside airas it passes therethrough, thereby attaming perfect combustion byincreasing the flame temperature and heating the incoming air to a pointabove the ignition temperature. This means the elimination of the odorof vapor and this in turn means economy, since it is not necessary toprovide a vent pipe or chimney to carry off such objectionable vapors.Furthermore, this arrangement prevents the loss of the heat which wouldbe carried oif through a chimney. These screens assist also in startingthe blue flame by pie-heating the air drawn through the combustionscreens. The pie-heating screens furthermore serve as a means of safetyin preventing back firing; that is, it is impossible for the flame topass through the pro-heating screens to any vapors which might be on theoutside thereof. In this way I avoid the smoke and clogging of theapertures which would be caused by back-firing. Any cold currents of aircan not affect the combustion in my burner because of the pro-heatingscreens which tend to-warm the air as it passes therethrough and whichtench also to break the force of any such air currents. Because of thehigher degree of vaporization which is made possible by using thepro-heating screens, I am able to use a higher structure of burner, or,in other words, a larger volume of vapor, which means a greater oilconsumption and hence a higher degree of heat with a given diameter ofburner. Since the pre-heating screens produce more eflicient combustionit is possible to operate my heater with a lower flame than is true ofthose heretofore us'ed.-

Thus there is realized a wider range of oil feed and a higher degree ofoil consumption with a given diameter of burner, which means anincreased efliciency in heat genera tion.

It will be understood also that air in ex- 'cess of that required forproper combustion ature of the air which passes out through the v top ofthe heater, so that it will not exceed a proper degree. Furthermore thecurrent of air which passes up through the heater will tend to dissipateany combustible vapors within the region of theheater.

Thus it will be seen that my heater, as above described, is one whichcan be readily constructed, is strong and durable, can be easily cratedfor shipping, is readily accessible for inspection, cleaning and renewalof the parts, requires minimum attention and at the same time operateswith a minimum degree of safety and high degree of efliciency.Furthermore my heater can be successfully operated with kerosene orother fuel oils without-danger of explosion and without the productionof objectionable soot or odor. Other advantages will readily suggestthemselves to those who are familiar with the art to which my inventionrelates.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to a constructionembodying the specific details as above described but that modificationscan be made 'Within the spirit of invention as above disclosed and ascovered by the following claims.

What I claim is 1. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising anannular fuel reservoir, coarsely perforated spaced shells extendingabove said reservoir and forming a. combustion space, finely perforatedshells spaced from said first named shells and forming inner and outerair pro-heating spaces, andmeans for supplying fuel to said reservoir.

2. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising an annular fuelreservoir, coarsely perforated spaced shells extending above saidreservoir and forming a combustion space, finely perforated shellsspaced from said first named shells and forming inner and outer airpre-heating spaces, means for supplying fuel to said reservoir, andguard means for restricting the flow of air to the pre-heating shells.

3. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising an annular fuelreservoir, coarsely perforated spaced shells extending above saidreservoir and forming a combustion space, finely perforated shellsspaced from said first named shells and forming inner and outer airpre-heating spaces, means for supplying fuel to said-reservoir, andimperforate shells one located within and the other surrounding saidfinely perforated shells and adapted to restrict the flow of airthereto.

i. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising an annular fuelreservoir, coarsely perforated spaced shells extending above saidreservoir and forming a combustion and outer air pre-heating spaces,means for supplying fuel to said reservoir, and a flame deflector at thetop of the burner.

5. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising an annular fuelreservoir, coarsely perforated spaced shells extending above saidreservoir and forming a combustion space, finely perforated shellsspaced from said first named shells and forming inner and outer airpre-heating spaces, means for supplying fuel to said reservoir, and aflame deflector at the top of the burner, said deflector lying over anair channel through said inner imperforate shell for causing the airflowing through said channel .to impinge against the flame at the top ofthe burner and direct the same outwardly.

6. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, comprising a fuel reservoir,coarsely perforated spaced walls extending above said reservoir andbetween them forming a combustion space, finely perforated walls spacedfrom said first named Walls and formin air pre-heating spaces one oneach side 0 said combustion space, and means for supplying fuel to saidreservoir.

7. In a heater, a liquid fuel burner, com-\ prising a fuel reservoir,coarsely perforated spaced walls extending above said reservoir andbetween them forming a combustion space, finely perforated walls spacedfrom said first named walls and forming air preheating spaces one oneach side of said combustion space, means for. supplying fuel to saidreservoir, and guard means for restricting the flow of air to thepre-heating walls.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

. OTTO J. KUENHOLD.

